Formerly the "QUAKE 2 Engine", with pioneering innovation in 3D environments, a few of id Tech 2's most notable features were out-of-the-box support for OpenGL hardware-accelerated graphics (in addition to the traditional software renderer), and colored lighting effects. Games created on this engine technology include QUAKE II, Hexen II, Heretic II, Sin, Soldier Of Fortune, Half-Life, Kingpin and Anachronox.

New Year, New Website, New Forums, New Us

As another new year passes, the same question gets asked repeatedly. "What’s going on with development?". Well, you may have noticed that updates have been coming a lot less frequently in recent times, and instantly jumped to the conclusion that that game is either on hold or cancelled. Sadly, you are mistaken. We noticed that we were releasing media and news, without actually saying anything. This meant people were getting angry at our lack of real substance. As such, news events will be much less frequent now, but much more worthwhile. Rest assured, our small little two man army is busy behind the scenes, with some rather delicious developments coming your way. Code is being rewritten to be better, faster, stronger. Art has been brought up to date, with level of detail models added for everything now. New tricks are being looked into, such as the possibility of a new ambient lighting pass that will simulate a sort of fake global illumination. The GUI has been re-worked from the ground up to fix the issues of old and bring it screaming into the new generation… Things are happening, and dare I say it, happening well. It’s just that we can’t share an awful lot with you at the time. So, as always, I ask you have patience, understanding, and know that we ARE looking for help (particularly with animation as that’s the part we are on now).

With that said, it’s time we shared a few things with you… “New Year New Us”, right?

OverDose Development Tools

Development of OverDose requires many external tools, such as graphics manipulation software (Photoshop, GIMP etc), audio editing software (Audacity etc) and modelling tools (3d Studio Max, Maya, Mudbox, zBrush etc). However several features of the engine have no tools associated with them. These tools have been created from the ground up to not only provide ease of use for development with the OverDose engine, but also to provide 100% compatibility with the source material.

All tools are presented below for download and use, as well as original source code for the tools to manipulate for your own personal projects. Its worth noting also that each tool also includes verbose output and dumping to text files, so that if you wish, you can track each stage of your workflow step by step for more advanced users.

ODCompressSource CodeDownload OverDose supports both uncompressed .tga textures and also compressed .dds textures. However, there are many different formats and thresholds to compression that can help you get a file as low in size as possible while preserving the overall texture detail. This tool allows you to set parameters such as the compression format, modify the channel weights, and a lso edit the alpha threshold. For those of you who don't want to dive too deep into the science behind it all, there is also an automatic setting that tries its best to decide he best possible outcome for you.

ODFontSource CodeDownload OverDose uses TrueType font files for generation of font assets used in its GUIs. This is a tool that will load any existing font you have in your OverDose fonts directory and creates these files.

ODMapSource CodeDownload OverDose uses .map files in the editing stage that are compiled into .bsp files. This is a tool designed to make that compile not only a simple click, but also allow the user to select many configurable options, such as removing certain features of levels and fast compiling.

ODModelSource CodeDownload OverDose uses several types of model file for different needs. Some of which are used in levels, and are called static models (You can also use animated models here too). These files are created in .obj, .lwo and .ase format, and then loaded into the ODModel tool. Our tool will strip out all the junk and useless data from these files and convert them to our own formats. Likewise, you can also use this tool to create collision models.

ODRadiantSource CodeDownload Levels are the bread and butter of any game. Without them, all you have is a fancy front end and nothing more. Our engine has its own level format and feature set, and because of that, requires its own level editor. Built form the ground up to be fast, user friendly and feature rich, ODRadiant was created solely for use with OverDose level creation and is not compatible with other exist engines.

ODTrackerSource CodeDownload ODTracker is a simple but powerful bug tracking tool that the development team use to keep track of any reported bugs, date them, and give resolutions and or information. A useful tool.

ODCompressSource CodeDownload Overdose has its own version of the .RoQ video file format that is used to compile videos for the game. Our .RoQ tool can create 4k high quality videos from given animation samples and sound files, with full control over quality.

OverDose SDK Documentation

Throughout development of OverDose, we have written and created documentation to explain features and their uses. These documents contain valuable information such as explanations about console commands, in-game tools and working with our material system and GUI files (including explanations of all syntax). These files can be viewed in either .docx or .pdf, whichever is easier for you.

Cinematics & In-Game Videos.docx.pdf Helpful information about how to create and add videos to your game and levels.

Console .docx.pdf The complete OverDose console guide. In this document you will find the full code list for name colors, as well as every single console command and console variable, its uses and its min/max/default values.

Distributing Add-Ons And Mods .docx.pdf Useful information for those of you who want to create and distribute your own OverDose modifications.

Entity Classes.docx.pdf Every OverDose level is full of things we call "entities". Each entity has a name and set values, which allow it to function in the way you require it to work. This is the complete list of those entities, as well as their values and information.

FXs.docx.pdf Every effect you see in-game is created with a special FX file. This document contains a list of all variables to help you in creating special effects.

GUIs.docx.pdf A GUI, or Graphical User Interface, is a fancy name for the menu system. Menus are made with custom strings and code, and can be easily manipulated. We have created this documentation to help guide you, including explanations of what everything does.

Materials.docx.pdf Materials (Previously called shaders in Quake 3) are created for every single surface in the game, and give that surface its properties. This is what tells the engine how much a wall should shine, or what effect to play when shot. This document contains a full list of all material syntax.

Particles.docx.pdf If an FX file is the overall effect, a particle is the smaller pieces that make the whole image. This document contains all syntax and explanations to help with their creation.

Shaders.docx.pdf Shaders are small programs that run on the GPU for every vertex and/or fragment drawn. They are written in a high-level language called GLSL (GL Shading Language) but are compiled by the video driver and turned into object code for fast execution. They can be used to create a wide range of special effects, either per-vertex or per-fragment, or both. When it comes to shaders, only your imagination is the limit.

Skins.docx.pdf Skins are a special way of allowing you to have a single model, but have several different materials for use on that model. For example, you could create a single barrel model, but have green, red and blue materials to use on it. This file helps explain their creation.

Sound Shaders.docx.pdf Sound Shaders are like Materials for sound. They tell the engine how a sound should play and how it should be modified etc. This document explains this process.

Source Code.docx.pdf The full OverDose source code is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License. OverDose is written primarily in C, but large portions of the code are written in C++ (like the shared math library or the GUI system). For all information on our Source Code and its uses, see this document.

Tables.docx.pdf Tables define a set of values used to map an input value to an output value, with optional wrap / clamp and interpolation. Tables can be used in mathematical expressions in materials and GUIs, and used as lookup tables in particles and FXs. This document explains their uses and features.

The OverDose Website & OD/Q2E Forums Have Returned!

It’s been a long time coming, but the OverDose website is finally back up and running, with a new fresh coat of paint and simplified mobile view. You can now find out direct information about the game, including what it’s about, its features, and its system specifications, as well as view media from the game and contact the team. Also now included is a brand new discussion forum, which will be full of tutorials, information and discussions about OverDose, Team Blur Games, Quake II Evolved, General News and more.

So, head over to the website for more information and see what you think, and don’t forget to register on our forum to see all the latest news, previews and pics of what’s to come. Being a part of the discussion means you will help shape the future of the game.

Like The Project? Help Us Survive!

You might think that we are taking our sweet time with OverDose, and you know what? You would be absolutely 100% bang on correct. It's difficult being a two man team building an original game from the ground up with current gen graphics and engine features. However, if you do like what you see and want to donate to keep the project going, please use this handy PayPal link. Any donation amount is always welcome, and all donations go towards buying better equipment for development, as well as web hosting costs. As an added bonus, all donators will appear in the game credits as a special thank you. Don't forget, we make this in our spare time for free, we aren't professionals.

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For everyone who thinks Half-Life is based off id tech2:
Thats not really true, vale had license for Quake One and Quake Two Engine, but half-Life just uses the RAD lightning from Quake 2, and this Map feature which lets you go back again to the last map. The rest is from Quake and highly modified.

Apparently the story goes that they initially were hoping to use the Quake 2 engine however eventually decided to license the QuakeWorld engine. They brought over many fixes and changes from the Quake 2 engine however.

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Great Engine with Great games built from them. Set the par for along time along with spawning of fantastic games. This engine has held its self against many other engines at the time of the release and even now. 7/10